New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has shown himself unfit for the office and should resign. In his news conference about his officials deliberately and unnecessarily closing lanes to the George Washington Bridge last September, he revealed his failure to recognize his most important duty - to protect people in his state from threats to their health and safety. In the news conference, he first apologized for failing "to understand the problem." He then said, "I would never have made a joke about the lane closures," if he had known the truth about them, about who had ordered them and why. These statements show he fails to understand the danger in suddenly closing a metropolitan highway, that it can keep emergency vehicles from saving people's lives. That failure disqualifies anyone from holding a public office with responsibility for public safety.

In then joking about it: 1. He exhibited ignorance of his duty to safeguard the public; or 2. He was showing contempt for the idea that anyone would dare question his priorities or his character. (His denial of involvement in the lane closure decision or knowing about it at the time may or may not be true, but that's not the point.)

"Mistakes were made," he said, "and I remedied these mistakes by the action I've taken today," namely, firing a subordinate. No, the only remedy for his gross disregard for public safety is replacing him with a governor who understands the duties of the office.